Since this web site is all about police misconduct, we cannot let the twentieth anniversary of the Waco incident pass without comment.

April 19, 1993 marks the worst police action in modern American history.

Here are the main things to know:

76 people, including 27 children, died that day. That loss of life is a sufficient explanation as to why this incident is important and worth remembering.

The federal police operation did not involve a handful of “rogue” agents. The incident is disturbing because it supposedly involved the best units of the ATF and the FBI. And much of the decision-making was done by the top people at headquarters facilities in Washington, DC.

Make no mistake, crimes were committed by federal agents at Waco. And those crimes were covered-up.

If the feds can successfully cover-up the worst police action in modern American history –an event that was highly publicized and that eventually brought extensive congressional hearings and the appointment of a special prosecutor– it is frightening to consider what police agencies would be able to get away in instances where there is no media scrutiny or legislative oversight.

…

For today, let me just highlight some facts for all the people who do not have the time or inclination to study the details.

When the Branch Davidian residence burned to the ground and it became apparent that the FBI tank assault on April 19 backfired –resulting in almost everyone losing their lives, Attorney General Janet Reno told the media that the reason she ordered the assault was because “babies were being beaten” –so the feds had no choice– they just had to move in. About a week later, Reno testified before Congress. Under oath, she admitted she had no evidence that babies were being beaten! What!?

The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team kept saying they were there to save lives and that they were especially concerned about the safety of the children in the residence. But their tanks drove into the side of buildings even as the agents admitted they did not know the whereabouts of the children.

Some of the Branch Davidians survived the inferno of April 19. They were arrested and charged with “murdering ATF agents.” In a stinging rebuke to the federal prosecutors, the jury acquitted the Davidians of those very serious charges.

One of the primary reasons the cover-up was successful was that government officials kept deflecting attention away from their actions to the Branch Davidian leader, David Koresh. And, later, the feds would deflect attention by pointing out the crimes of the Oklahoma City bombers. The feds seemed to taunt everyone with the question, “Who are you going to side with? Koresh? McVeigh and Nicols?” That was always a false choice. One can, for example, condemn excessive force against a shoplifter without “siding with” shoplifting.

There are, to be sure, some wild conspiracy theories out there about the feds and Waco. But the existence of a conspiracy theorist(s) does not make all government conduct lawful and ethical, at least in logic.

What’s the takeaway from all this? First, recognize that this awful incident really did happen. Crimes were committed and then the government tried to deceive everyone about what actually happened there. Second, when it comes to government power, especially police power and the use of deadly force, be impartial, ask questions, and follow the evidence. We must remember that, in a free society, police agents may not use the “color of their office” to commit crimes.

The National Police Misconduct Reporting Project (NPMRP) was first established in 2009 by David Packman, a private researcher. In April 2012, Mr. Packman announced that he could no longer devote the necessary time to maintain his project and asked for a person or organization to assume responsibility for the reporting project. The Cato Institute expressed an interest, and Mr. Packman subsequently agreed to transfer his ownership interest to Cato with no qualifications whatsoever.

US[World Tyrant]-NATO chopper falls into hands of Mujahideen [troops of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan], all passengers detained

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Reports arriving from Logar province say that a US[World Tyrant]-NATO helicopter made an emergency landing later Sunday in Azra district’s Mangal area.

Mujahideen immediately surrounded the chopper, detained all 11 foreigners aboard and completely destroyed the helicopter which belongs to the foreign forces by setting it alight.

The 11 crew, compromising…American [World Tyrant] military officers among which are 2 translators, were captured alive and were then transferred to the most secure region of the nation.

Initial information suggests that the helicopter faced problems while flying in from Khost province towards Bagram.

The foreign forces, by disassociating themselves from the helicopter, are trying to make it seem as the detainees are civilians but denial will not benefit them as *all were captured while wearing American military uniforms*.

The United States government has been at war for eleven years. The US military destroyed Iraq, leaving the country and millions of lives in ruins and releasing sectarian blood-letting that had been kept in check by the secular Saddam Hussein government. On any given day in “liberated” Iraq, the death toll is as high as during the height of the US attempted occupation.

In Afghanistan eleven years of US attempted occupation has had no more success than a decade of Soviet occupation. The Afghans are still not worn down despite more than two decades of war with the two superpowers. Like the Soviets, the Americans have managed to kill many women, children, and village elders, but precious few warriors. In place of the Soviet puppet government there is Washington’s puppet government. That is the only change, and Washington’s puppet is no more secure than the Soviet one was.

In Libya, Washington used its corrupt NATO puppets and CIA-recruited bandits to overthrow another stable government, that of Muammar Gaddafi, leaving Libya mired in sectarian violence. A stable prosperous country has simply been destroyed by western governments that profess human rights values and condemn China and Russia for not having any.

Washington has also been killing civilians with drones and air strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, two countries with which Washington is not at war but has *purchased the governments*, paying the Pakistani and Yemeni governments for the right to murder their citizens and destabilizing both countries in the process.

And now in Syria Washington is at work destroying another stable secular government headed by a British trained eye doctor.

Adelaide woman [Denyse] says [five] police assaulted her at home after call to counselling service

EXTRA:

“He was a regular kid,” said Zach Bettencourt, 20, a classmate at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “When I see his picture on the news, I still can’t believe it. I just can’t believe anything they say he did.”

…

Bettencourt, the University of Massachusetts student, said he saw Dzhokar Tsarnaev at the campus gym the day after the bombing. “I talked to him about it like he was a regular kid,” Bettencourt said. He recalled Dzhokar Tsarnaev saying, “tragedies happen.”